 A regional prosecutor said he would not file charges against a newspaper that published contentious caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, and Danish Muslim groups said Monday they would appeal. "We cannot understand the decision," said Ahmad Akkari, a spokesman for a coalition of 11 community groups, adding that they would take their complaints to Denmark's top prosecutor.
| We know you don't understand. That's the problem, not the drawings. |
He said the 12 caricatures, published Sept. 30 in the Jyllands-Posten daily, were a "clear offense to Islam."
| Which means about the same as offending Christians, seculars, or Oriana Fallaci. That is, zero. |
| Yesterday the 'Burg carried a story on the witty and erudite comments of Soddy Arabia's grand mufti. Today we have a story on the witty and erudite comments of the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Both sets of comments are offensive. Kill them both and maybe we can talk. Until then, shuddup. |
State prosecutor Peter Broendt Joergensen said Saturday the drawings were protected by Denmark's freedom of speech laws and did not violate bans on racism and blasphemy.
| "Freedom of speech" doesn't exist when the nearest holy man can tell you what to say or not say. |
 Egypt has been spearheading foreign criticism of Denmark over the cartoons. While Egypt "respects freedom of opinion and expression, we also realize the borders which must never be crossed," Egypt's official Middle East News Agency quoted Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit as saying Monday after he was informed of the prosecutor's decision by his Danish counterpart.
| Your border with Israel, for example, 'cause you'd get your butts kicked ... oh, not that border. |
| Somehow we manage to wander back and forth over the lines that can't be crossed all the time here in the civilized world. We have Hustler magazine, Pat Robertson, Jane Fonda and her Vagina™, all sorts of people who casually violate the rules of common courtesy, good taste, or good sense. Somehow, against all odds, the Republic lives... |
Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry. One cartoon shows Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse.
| Yes, I can see how that might lead to idolatry among Salafists... |
Another portrays him with a bushy gray beard and holding a sword, his eyes covered by a black rectangle. A third pictures a middle-aged prophet standing in the desert with a walking stick in front of a donkey and a sunset. A fourth depicts a schoolboy near a blackboard.
| Pretty tame stuff compared to what Le Monde does to GWB. |
| Allow me here to complain about the cost of goats to sacrifice to G.W. It's outrageous, the way the prices go up as we approach the holy day of the State of the Union address... |
Twelve artists submitted cartoons after the newspaper asked 40 to submit images in what it called a test of whether people would censor themselves for fear of provoking Muslims.
| Right on cue, the local Moose limbs went bananas. |
The paper refused to apologize for publishing the drawings, citing freedom of speech - a right cherished in this northern European country of 5.4 million that also refused to prosecute an artist who depicted a crucified Jesus Christ with an erection.
| The offense, distasteful as I may find it, merits flung fruit, mockery, and derision, not state intervention. Moose limbs, by the peculiar conformation of their arms, are incapable of flinging anything as light as fruit, preferring grenades or rocks. Lacking anything resembling a sense of humor, they're incapable of mockery or derision. The best they can do is vitriol... |
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen rejected calls that he intervene after the caricatures sparked harsh criticism from some Muslim leaders at home and overseas, saying the government has no say over media. But in a New Year's speech widely seen as an attempt to calm emotions over the issue, Rasmussen condemned "any expression, action or indication that attempts to demonize groups of people on the basis of their religion or ethnic background."
| That's a nice PC statement. If he were talking to Lutherans or Jedis, that would have been enough to settle the matter. |
The dispute has created a backlash against Danish Muslim groups, who critics say blew the matter out of proportion by asking Muslim countries to pressure the Danish government to act against the paper. In her weekly newsletter, Pia Kjaersgaard, the leader of the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, accused some Danish Muslim leaders of conducting a "defamation campaign against the country they live in."
| That's because they're Moose limbs, not Danes... |
Abdul Wahid Petersen, a leading imam in Denmark, defended the decision to request help from abroad. "When someone offends the prophet, it is not only just a local problem but affects Muslims worldwide," he said Monday on Danish public radio.
| And there's just no self-control in any of them, nope, not a bit. |
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